Paramesotriton laoensis

[stephan]

nice pic of a baby Paramesotriton Laoensis, taken in the jungle of Xieng Kouang and a comparison from adult, semi-adult and juvenile, Province

(Message edited by jennewt on March 15, 2006)

 

[paris]

very pretty! -but why are the adults so bland? do they loose colour as they mature?

 

[paul]

@Paris, not all are so dark, look here:

But this juvenile is real pretty.
Paul

 

[paul]

Here my pair:

you see, the male is more brownish.

The beautiful belly of the female:

Paul

 

[andy]

Fantastic looking animals! how many of you guys in Europe are keeping this species?

 

[juraj]

Nice photo of juvie. Thanks for sharing.

 

[wouter]

I've seen them on a website of a Japanese wholesaler now too, so these aren't confined to Europe anymore.

 

[stephan]

to Paris, a note just to let you know, Laoensis is regularly on the menu of the local people in Lao.

 

[stephan]

about the color, I have in my collection animals that are very yellow and some are very brownish.It seems that they loose color when they age, however, I have some small, semi-adult that are brownish as well, so, there must be something else ......the breeding groups I keep in the aquarium have (like the pics from Paul) very yellow color

 

[andy]

Hi Stephen, have you or any other keepers had success with breeding these?

 

[stephan]

Hi Andy, well I'm breeding Paramesotriton Deloustali for many years now and started with Laoensis more then a year ago. I'm getting the first results. Send me your e-mail address.

 

[paul]

Hi Stephan,

first results with laoensis

that's very interesting!
When I see the cloaca of my female I think about how it will lay their eggs. Like caudopunctatus
(http://www.caudata.org/forum/messages/13/54646.html?1142242795) or like the other Paramesotriton in plants?
Here a shot of cloaca:

Paul

 

[TJ]

Ah, I see others are keeping this species. So I might as well acknowledge that I am too, among others in Japan.

Paul, I have been wondering the same thing, especially as both of my females seem gravid. I would think they'd lay eggs on plants, but I'm simply guessing. In what way does the shape of the cloaca give some indication?

Stephan, welcome to the site and thanks for those pics. I've seen photos of at least a couple dozen P. laoensis individials to date, but never ones that completely lack the orange or yellowish coloration on the dorsum, so that second picture of yours is very interesting.

Also, it's interesting to see a juvenile with such vivid coloration. As for the coloration possibly fading with age, well, my females are about 20 cm long and retain bright coloration. I have also seen an adult of the same size with faded coloration, with that one was ill.

Here are a couple of random shots of mine:

Would you please post some pictures of P.laoensis eggs and larvae for us to see?

 

[paul]

Tim,
<blockquote><hr size=0><!-quote-!><font size=1>Tim wrote on Friday, 17 March, 2006 - 10:02 :</font>

"In what way does the shape of the cloaca give some indication? "<!-/quote-!><hr size=0></blockquote>
Maybe no indication.
But comparing the cloaca shape of my P. laoensis with deloustali and caudopunctatus it looks more like caudopunctatus. It was only an idea, if the reproduction strategy also can be like this.
Paul

 

[TJ]

Hi Paul, interesting observation

If the dorsal coloration on that newt of yours really yellow or is that just the effect of the flash? In that cloaca shot, I notice the underbelly is orange but the dorsum is yellow, so I'm supposing it's truly yellow. Mine are clearly orange. Some others in Europe that I've seen through pictures have also been yellow, while ALL of those I've seen directly and through pictures in Japan have been orange, with the exception of a few yellow spots on the belly of some individuals -- in which case still most vent spots on the same individual are orange. I wonder if it's a regional variation.

(This male came to me as a charity case, with already damaged limb, but is otherwise healthy and an excellent eater)

 

[paul]

@Tim, it is orange! The ornaments on dorsum is difficult to explain. In differently light it looks more dirty white, white/brown, white/yellow ....

@Stephan, I have a question to aggression in laoensis groups.
P. deloustali are a very aggressive species. We talked about in Gersfeld.
In my laoensis pair until now I never saw aggressiv behavior. The pair often sits close together. Maybe only a question of time? Or did you make the same observation?
Paul

(Message edited by paul_b on March 17, 2006)

 

[TJ]

I'll second that. I have never noticed any aggression at all among mine, even at mealtimes. When they'd not being fed live waxworms by hand, they gather in the tank's designated feeding corner to share frozen bloodworm, demonstrating the best of table manners

By the way Paul, it was pointed out to me by a Japanese friend who saw your picture that your newt has lots of mites around its leg. Have you noticed these yet? Mine did too, as did everybody else's here in Japan.

Here are some photos of these mites:

Maybe your newts are from the same stock as ours...

(Message edited by TJ on March 17, 2006)

 

[paul]

Tim, all P.laoensis which came to Europe seem to have this mites. Also some populations of P. deloustali have - but an other species! Those from Tam Dao not!
The mites are a not described species, which will be described by an German scientist soon.
Only chance is to take them away by Hand over a long time.

I think they are not from the same stock. Mine are from Xiang Khouang Provinz.

Paul

(Message edited by paul_b on March 17, 2006)

 

[stephan]

Hey, Paul and Tim,
I keep Laoensis for more then a year now and have never experienced any aggression. They seem very friendly, I have a breeding group of 3/2 together for 1and1/2 year and they are doing nothing to each other. The mites are very interesting and I have found them on almost all animals I have seen in Lao. It seems that the mites don't hurt the newt much, but, anyway, I removed them from my animals.

<font color="ff0000"><font size="-2">(I just added a space between the text and the picture -- Tim

)</font></font>

(Message edited by TJ on March 17, 2006)

 

[william]

ahh so these have found their way into the hobby at last!

why the secrecy Tim? almost makes me wonder what other rarities you've got hidden away!